Ohio Governor John Kasich
was among the governors who opposed the "skinny repeal"
plan.AP Photo/Carolyn
Kaster

It's looking more likely that the Senate will vote on a
last-resort effort to repeal Obamacare.

The so-called "skinny repeal" plan, if passed, would
roll back certain aspects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA),
including the individual and employer health insurance mandates,
and lead to the House and Senate working together to compromise
on one final bill.

The Congressional Budget Office scored the "skinny" plan
Wednesday night and found that it would leave
16 million more Americans without health insurance.

Already, governors from 10 states have come out against the
bills being proposed in the Senate:

"The bill still threatens coverage for millions of
hardworking, middle class Americans," they wrote in a letter to
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnnell and Senate Minority
Leader Chuck Schumer. "The bill's Medicaid provisions shift costs
to states and fail to provide the necessary resources to ensure
that no one is left out,
including the working poor or those suffering from mental illness
or addiction. The Senate should also reject efforts to amend the
bill into a "skinny repeal," which is expected to accelerate
health plans leaving the individual market, increase premiums,
and result in fewer Americans having access to coverage."

Instead, the governors called on the Senate to work with
them.

The letter was signed by Democratic governors John
Hickenlooper of Colorado, Terry McAuliffe of Virginia, John Bel
Edwards of Louisiana, Steve Bullock of Montana, and Tom Wolf of
Pennsylvania. Republican governors Brian Sandoval of Nevada, John
Kasich of Ohio, Charlie Baker of Massachusetts, Larry Hogan of
Maryland, and Phil Scott of Vermont also signed the
letter.

The opposition, in particular from Sandoval and Kasich, to
the "skinny repeal" plan is key. On Wednesday, Nevada Senator
Dean Heller voted against a repeal-without-a-replacement plan, as
did Ohio Sen. Bob Portman. Both Heller and Portman have
been critical of the healthcare plans put forth by the GOP,
and losing those votes could put a "skinny repeal" plan in
jeopardy.

What 'skinny repeal' would look
like:

The "skinny repeal" bill would repeal both the individual and
employer mandates, which requires individuals to have health
insurance, and employers to provide health insurance to
employees. If they don't, they face a penalty fee under
Obamacare.

It would also repeal some of the taxes that the ACA put
in place — most significantly, a tax on medical-device
makers.

The skinny bill would likely leave everything else
untouched.

While the text of the "skinny repeal" bill hasn't been released
yet, the bill would be nowhere near as extensive as the
full-repeal plan or the BCRA. But it would seek to alter the
much-criticized mandates that Republicans have targeted for
years.

Getting rid of the individual mandate with no other changes to
the bill, according to the
Congressional Budget Office, would leave 15 million more
Americans without health care by 2026. The change would also lead
to a 20% increase in premiums, the CBO said. It could also send
the ACA marketplace into a "death spiral,"
health experts warn.

Why the Senate might resort to a 'skinny repeal'

Chris Krueger, an analyst at the Washington-based Cowen and
Company, compared getting
every GOP senator on board with a bill to squeezing
a balloon, because it's so hard to align both moderates and
conservatives on a plan.

If the Senate is successful in passing a skinny repeal, Senate
Republicans would then need to find common ground with House
Republicans to get to a bill that both chambers can agree on.
That could be a rather lengthy process.